Sanitary Apparatus and Method for Sampling Cosmetics

ABSTRACT

A cosmetic patch for testing and evaluating a cosmetic product. The patch comprises a top surface colored and textured to match that of a user&#39;s features, preferably that of their lips. The reverse side of the patch comprises a weak adhesive surface to temporarily bond to the user&#39;s hand, forearm, or other object. When the user deposits a sample of the cosmetic product onto the textured surface of the patch, the user may then compare and evaluate the look of the cosmetic product on their particular features, for example their lips, without having to actually place the cosmetic product on their features and thus prevent the spread of contagious diseases and maintain costs at a minimum for the cosmetics vendor.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/243,936 filed on Sep. 18, 2009, which isincorporated herein by reference and to which priority is claimedpursuant to 35 USC 119.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of cosmetics, specifically to anapparatus for testing cosmetics in a sanitary fashion

2. Description of the Prior Art

Currently, when a customer is at a cosmetics counter within a departmentstore, shopping mall, or other venue where popular cosmetics are sold,there are very few options for the customer to try or sample aparticular type or color of cosmetic product without having to buy theproduct. In the case of lipstick, most stores or cosmetic vendors willonly have one sample for each shade of lipstick available for theentirety of the public to use. Needless to say, in an attempt to keepcosts down as well as to stop the spread of contagious diseases, it isimpossible for the sample lipstick to actually be placed on a customer'slips. Therefore various options have been informally developed over theyears which have been implemented in order for the customer to get abetter feel and opinion of the product they are interested in withoutactually having to put the product on its intended area of use.

One option for testing cosmetic products includes the customer rubbingor placing a portion of the desired cosmetic product on their hand orother area of bare skin. While this may be ideal for a variety of skincreams, it is less than desirable when the customer wishes to test acosmetic product such as lipstick because as is nearly the case in everyperson, the color of one's lips is not nearly the same color as one'shand or skin in general. Testing a particular shade or texture oflipstick on the customer's hand therefore leads to a false comparison ofhow that product will actually look on the customer's lips because whilea particular color may look good over the customer's skin on their hand,it may not look or feel as good as when on their lips. This then forcesthe customer to imagine or estimate what that particular shade ortexture of lipstick will really look like when properly placed in itsintended position. Additionally, the concern of stopping the spread ofcontagious diseases is not really addressed here as the same lipsticktube could conceivably be used over and over on the back of eachcustomer's hand, a portion of the body that is no more likely to beclean or sanitary as their lips or mouth.

In some cases, the cosmetics merchant behind the counter will give thecustomer a white sample index card or a tissue to test the cosmeticproduct. However, this leads to an even larger discrepancy than thatdescribed above because the bleached white color of an index card ortissue is even further away from the true color of the customer's lipsthan that of their skin, thus giving the customer even less informationto base their purchase on.

Another attempted solution to the problem of sanitarily testing cosmeticproducts has been to supply the customers with smaller sample sizedportions of the product that they are interested in. The customer isthen allowed to keep the sample sized product for their own personal useand may test the product on its intended location. However, in additionto being expensive, very valuable counter space and storage is needed todisplay and house the sample units which make them unattractive for manycosmetic vendors, especially for those that are mobile or door-to-door.

One other method used by cosmetic counters to sanitize the lip stick isto dip the tube in rubbing alcohol. This technique has not been provento be 100% medically effective in eliminating all bacteria and virusesleft on a tube of lipstick.

What is needed is a safe, sterile device for testing or samplingcosmetic products that accurately gives the customer an appraisal of howthat cosmetic product would look on a specific portion of their bodywithout having to actually apply the cosmetic product to that body part.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The current invention is a cosmetic patch for testing and evaluating acosmetic product. The patch comprises a top surface colored and texturedto match that of a user's features, preferably that of their lips. Thereverse side of the patch comprises a weak adhesive surface totemporarily bond to the user's hand, forearm, or other object. When theuser deposits a sample of the cosmetic product onto the textured surfaceof the patch, the user may then compare and evaluate the look of thecosmetic product on their particular features, for example their lips,without having to actually place the cosmetic product on their featuresand thus prevent the spread of contagious diseases and maintain costs ata minimum for the cosmetics vendor.

While the apparatus and method has or will be described for the sake ofgrammatical fluidity with functional explanations, it is to be expresslyunderstood that the claims, unless expressly formulated under 35 USC112, are not to be construed as necessarily limited in any way by theconstruction of “means” or “steps” limitations, but are to be accordedthe full scope of the meaning and equivalents of the definition providedby the claims under the judicial doctrine of equivalents, and in thecase where the claims are expressly formulated under 35 USC 112 are tobe accorded full statutory equivalents under 35 USC 112. The inventioncan be better visualized by turning now to the following drawingswherein like elements are referenced by like numerals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is top perspective view of the current cosmetic patch with a pulltab disposed on the material construction surface of the patch.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the cosmetic patch seen in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is an alternative embodiment of the cosmetic patch wherein it issubstantially shaped like the lips of a user.

FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the cosmetic patch see in FIG. 1 beingpeeled away a backing surface.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a sheet of backing surface comprising aplurality of material construction surfaces.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a roll of backing surface comprising aplurality of material construction surfaces.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a container comprising a plurality ofpatches seen in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the cosmetic patch seen in FIG. 1 when adheredto the skin of a user.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cosmetic patch seen in FIG. 3coupled to a rod.

The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understoodby turning to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments which are presented as illustrated examples of the inventiondefined in the claims. It is expressly understood that the invention asdefined by the claims may be broader than the illustrated embodimentsdescribed below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The current invention is a device and method for testing or samplingcosmetic products in a safe, sanitary way. In one embodiment, thecurrent device is a removable cosmetic patch, generally denoted byreference numeral 10 seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, with an adhesive back 12that is capable of being applied anywhere a user desires including butnot limited to their hand, arm, or fingers. Additionally the patch 10may be temporarily adhered to inanimate objects such as clothing or ahandbag. The adhesive 12 may be any type of temporary adhesive now knownor later devised such as weak bonding glue commonly used on the back ofstickers, band-aids, sticky notes, and the like. On the non-adhesiveside of the patch is a flat latex, latex-composite, or materialconstruction surface 14. The latex or latex-composite surface 14 ispre-colored and pre-textured so as to match the color and texture of auser's lips. The cosmetic patch 10 may be colored in any color, howeverit is preferable that the cosmetic patch 10 be colored according theshade and general color scheme of a variety of people's lips in order toreflect the varying ethnicities of the general public. The patch 10 issufficiently shaped and sized so that it may manipulated and maneuveredeasily with as little as two fingertips. The cosmetic patch 10 may beshaped in any number of geometric shapes such as the substantiallysquare shape seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, or alternatively may actually be inthe general shape of a person's lips as seen in FIG. 3. Having thecosmetic patch 10 in the shape of one's lips would emphasize the pointthat the cosmetic products being sampled are meant for the lips, or inthe case of a cosmetic product such as lip liner, may provide a moreaccurate depiction of how that product would look once properly applied.The cosmetic patch 10 also comprises a backing surface 16 seen in FIG. 4that keeps the adhesive surface 12 covered and free from debris untilthe cosmetic patch 10 is to be used. The backing surface 16 may becomprised of wax paper or any other similar paper that is disposable andmay be easily peeled away from the adhesive surface 12 of the patch 10.

In another embodiment, the patch 10 comprises a tab 28 or an extendededge defined on the material surface and disposed on one of the externalsides of the patch 10. The tab portion 28 of the patch 10 is largeenough for a user to pinch between two fingers and drag in a peelingmotion. The tab 28, unlike the rest of the patch 10, does not containany adhesive backing in its reverse side. Furthermore, the patch 10 maycomprise a clear perimeter 30 disposed around the colored lip shape asseen in FIG. 3 so as to ascertain a more realistic skin tone to liptonecomparison if the patch 10 is placed on the hand 24.

When a user approaches a cosmetics vendor and selects a lipstick, lipgloss, or a lip liner that they are interested in, the vendor hands theuser an individual cosmetic patch 10 that matches the user's own lipcolor along with the sample unit of the cosmetic product that theyselected. Ideally, the cosmetic vendor would select the cosmetic patch10 from a plurality of different groups of patches, each patch groupbearing the color of the lips of a different ethnicity so that a maximummatch between the cosmetic patch 10 and user's lips is achieved. Eachcosmetic patch 10 may be individually wrapped and hermetically sealedthus ensuring the cleanliness and sterility of the cosmetic patch. Inanother embodiment, a plurality of cosmetic patches 10 may disposed on asingle sheet seen 18 in FIG. 5 or, alternatively, on a roll 20 seen inFIG. 6 and be dispensed in much the same way a paper towel is dispensed.In yet another embodiment seen in FIG. 7, the cosmetic patches 10 may bestored and configured within a hermetically sealed container 22 so thatwhen one cosmetic patch 10 is pulled from the container 22 in thedirection shown by the arrow, the next patch 10 is automatically putinto the dispensing position, much like when a nasal tissue or wet wipeis pulled from its box.

With the correct cosmetic patch 10 and a cosmetic sample 26 in hand, theuser removes the backing surface 16 from the cosmetic patch 10 andplaces it anywhere that is convenient for the user, such as the hand orforearm 24 as seen in FIG. 8. The user may then take the cosmeticproduct sample 26 and run it across the cosmetic patch 10, thusdepositing a small amount of cosmetic product sample 26 on the latex orlatex-composite surface 14 of the cosmetic patch 10. With the cosmeticsample product 26 disposed on the cosmetic patch 10, the user may thenjudge and compare the look of the color of the cosmetic product 26against the cosmetic patch 10 which represents the color of their ownlips and thus gain an accurate opinion of how that particular cosmeticproduct 26 would look on their own mouth. If the user is satisfied withhow the cosmetic product 26 would look on their lips, they may removethe cosmetic patch 10 by lifting up a corner of the patch 10 or the tab28 disposed on the external edge of the patch 10 and then peeling itaway from surface that it was adhered to. If the user is not satisfiedwith how the cosmetic product 26 would look on their lips, the user maytry another cosmetic product sample 26 on the same cosmetic patch 10, oralternatively may remove the cosmetic patch 10 and replace it withanother clean, unmarked cosmetic patch 10. It is important to note thatat no point does the cosmetic product 26 touch the actual skin of theuser. All contact between the user and the cosmetic product 26 isprevented by use of the cosmetic patch 10.

In another embodiment seen in FIG. 9, the cosmetic patch 10 is shapedsubstantially like a pair of a typical user's lips and is coupled to astraight, rigid hand held rod 30. The rod 30 is preferably comprised outof material such as wood or plastic, however any material that isinexpensive and light weight may be used without departing from theoriginal spirit and scope of the invention. The rod 30 is coupled to thecenter of the reverse side of the patch 10 by means of glue, staples, orany other permanent coupling means. After applying the appropriatecosmetic product to the lip shaped patch 10, the user grips the rod 30and angles it close to their mouth to make an accurate judgment of howthat particular cosmetic product would look on themselves. After makinga judgment, the user may dispose of the entire device, including the rod30, into the trash. If further cosmetic testing is desired, the user mayselect a new cosmetic patch 10 and coupled rod 30 and repeat the entireprocess. Alternatively, the patch 10 can be removably coupled to the rod30 by any means known in the art such as buttons, snaps, low tack glue,or Velcro. When the first patch 10 has been used, the user removes thepatch 10 from the rod 30 and attaches a second clean patch 10 to thesame rod 30 and repeats the same process. In another embodiment, the rod30 itself can be sized and shaped like a pair of lips with the materialconstruction surface disposed on the distal tip of the rod. Once thematerial construction surface has been used, the user may dispose of theentire device and select another if desired.

Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustratedembodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and thatit should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by thefollowing invention and its various embodiments.

Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment hasbeen set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should notbe taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims.For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim areset forth below in a certain combination, it must be expresslyunderstood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, moreor different elements, which are disclosed in above even when notinitially claimed in such combinations. A teaching that two elements arecombined in a claimed combination is further to be understood as alsoallowing for a claimed combination in which the two elements are notcombined with each other, but may be used alone or combined in othercombinations. The excision of any disclosed element of the invention isexplicitly contemplated as within the scope of the invention.

The words used in this specification to describe the invention and itsvarious embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of theircommonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in thisspecification structure, material or acts beyond the scope of thecommonly defined meanings. Thus if an element can be understood in thecontext of this specification as including more than one meaning, thenits use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possiblemeanings supported by the specification and by the word itself.

The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are,therefore, defined in this specification to include not only thecombination of elements which are literally set forth, but allequivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially thesame function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially thesame result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that anequivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any oneof the elements in the claims below or that a single element may besubstituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements maybe described above as acting in certain combinations and even initiallyclaimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or moreelements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised fromthe combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by aperson with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, areexpressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of theclaims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one withordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of thedefined elements.

The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specificallyillustrated and described above, what is conceptionally equivalent, whatcan be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates theessential idea of the invention.

1. An apparatus for testing and evaluating a cosmetic productcomprising: a material construction surface having a selected color andfor receiving the cosmetic product; and an adhesive surface disposed onthe opposite side of the material construction surface for adhering theapparatus to a supporting surface for display.
 2. The apparatus of claim1 where the selected color of the material surface matches the color ofa user's lips or a selected portion of the face.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 2 where the color of the material construction surface issubstantially colored to match the lips of the user according to theuser's ethnicity.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising aremovable backing disposed to the adhesive surface.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4 further comprising a plurality of material construction surfacesdisposed on a single roll or sheet of removable backing.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 4 further comprising means for dispensing a pluralityof material construction surfaces in succession from a container.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1 where the material construction surface is texturedto substantially mimic that of a user's lips.
 8. The apparatus of claim1 wherein the material construction surface is substantiallygeometrically shaped.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 where the materialconstruction surface is substantially shaped like a pair of lips. 10.The apparatus of claim 1 where the material construction surface iscoupled to a rod with means for being angled close to a user's face. 11.The apparatus of claim 4 where the material construction surfacecomprises a tab on its outer edge so as to be more easily peeled awayfrom the removable backing.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10 where thematerial construction surface is removably coupled to the rod.
 13. Amethod for sanitarily sampling cosmetic products comprising: selectingone of a plurality of material construction surfaces most closelymatching the color of a user's lips, selected portion of the face, oruser's skin; placing the selected material construction surface havingthe matching color onto a testing surface; disposing a sample portion ofthe cosmetic product on the material construction surface; and comparingthe sample portion of the cosmetic product to the selected color of thematerial construction surface.
 14. The method of claim 13 furthercomprising removing the material construction surface from a backingsurface before placing onto the testing surface.
 15. The method of claim13 further comprising removing the material construction surface fromthe testing surface after comparing the sample portion of the cosmeticproduct to the color of the material construction surface.
 16. Themethod of claim 14 where removing the material construction surface froma backing surface before placing onto the testing surface comprisesremoving the material construction surface from a roll or sheetcomprised of the backing surface.
 17. The method of claim 13 wherecomparing the sample portion of the cosmetic product to the selectedcolor of the material construction surface comprises disposing thematerial construction surface in close proximity the face of the user bymeans of a rod coupled to the material construction surface.
 18. Themethod of claim 13 where placing the selected material constructionsurface having the matching color onto a testing surface comprisesdisposing the material construction surface on the user's skin.
 19. Themethod of claim 13 where placing the selected material constructionsurface having the matching color onto a testing surface comprisesdisposing the material construction surface on the distal end of a rod.20. The method of claim 14 where removing the material constructionsurface from a backing surface before placing onto the testing surfacecomprises pulling a pull tab disposed on the material constructionsurface.